Valve seat insert



Jan. 12, 1954 R. H. SHEPPARD VALVE SEAT INSERT Filed March 51, 1952 FIG.

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INVENTOR RICHARD H. SHEPPARD,

,/ BYW? ATP RNEY Patented Jan. 12. 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VALVE SEAT INSERT 7 Richard H. Sheppard, Hanover, Pa.

Application March 31, 1952, Serial No. 279,592

8 Claims. (01. 123188) This invention relates to valve seats in internal combustion engines and has for its principal object the provision of a valve seat insert that will be particularly effective in engines of high output per cubic inch of piston displacement, where the valve or the engine block or both become distorted because of uneven expansion due to the fact that uniform heating of the entire combustion area has never yet been achieved.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a valve seat insert ring on which a distorted valve may seal even though the metal of the block surrounding the annular recess in which the insert is received is itself temporarily distorted or is actually warped because of prior distortions. This object is obtained by anchoring the end of the insert ring proximate the base of the annular recess while providing a degree of flexibility for the end of the ring which has the seat. Although movement of the flexible end does make an elliptical seat for example to mate perfectly with the dished or otherwise distorted valve, this deformation of the seat neither injuriously affects the operation of the valve nor its efiective life. Exactly the opposite occurs because the correct seal precludes leakage of the high pressure. high temperature gases which would cause overheating, burning, and warpage of the valve structure if allowed to seep.

A further object of the invention is to provide a one-piece valve seat free from reentrant angles and solidly anchored to the block away from the valve seat and having a degree of freedom all the way around the seat end of the ring so the seat may deform with the block and also may deform with the valve and will avoid leakage even with long subjection to extreme overload conditions with exhausts running quite black.

As is well known, we cannot secure uniform heating, when the engine is hot, all over the combustion chamber area including the valves and their seats. Unequal heating therefore distorts all parts due to the uneven expansion and we must take steps to eliminate leakage of hot gases under high pressure at this will over-heat, burn and warp the valves. With the present invention while the seat is deformed on its seating end to accommodate the valve head on the inside diameter of the seat, it fits the casting perfectly on the outside diameter of the seat.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical section;

Figure 2 is a radial section;

Figure 3 is a modification.

In Figure 1 the invention is shown in its prei 2 ferred form. The casting [0 has a recess for the reception of a valve seat insert ll, such recess having a cylindrical side wall [2 and a plane bottom surface I4. The valve insert II has a valve seat I5 which is engaged by the valve head IS, the stem of the valve head being denoted I1. The conical wall 20 of the annular insert II is tapered so an annular recess 2| is formed between the wall l2 of the recess and the outer wall 20 of the insert. The preferred angle of taper is of a degree so that the radial width of the mouth of the opening 21 would be 3 or 4 thousandths of an inch for an over-all diameter of the insert of 1%.

Referring particularly to Figure 2, the lower annular face 22 is angled at 30 as is common and the faces 23 between the points 24 and 25 and the face 26 are merely to provide relief toprevent the valve from embedding itself into the: seat and to limit the width of the valve seat 30- between the points 24 and 21 to the preferred dimension which in the case of 1%," diameter in-- sert would be .098" measured axially of the insert. The corresponding axial dimension of thetwo 30 relief faces are .020" outside and .047 inside, bearing in mind that these two figures are not of importance and may vary considerably to insure that the conical band 30 may be held to minimum tolerance.

The seat 30 is at an angle of 46 with respect to the outermost and plane face 33. This particular angle is used as it tends to minimize valve head distortion in high output engines. With the high pressure normally used the valve head probably dishes slightly under compression pressure so as to tend to leave an opening around the periphery which would permit accumulation of dirt with a subsequent destruction of both the valve and the seat. The 46 angle is important because in addition to the foregoing, the seating surface is maintained when the valve deforms the seat, the seat angle changing in one diameter of the circumference to perhaps 45 whereas at right angles to that diameter, the seat angle may become 47. In either event contact is maintained on the outer part of the seat and this prevents the carbon ash or other dirt from wedging itself as previously mentioned, also preventing overheating or the valve.

The material of the insert is an alloy which does not lose its temper at any operating temperature and is of such hardness that it should be ground after the roughly formed seat is anchored in place in the recess in the cylinder head casting because of the great dimculty in tooling 'valve guides (not shown) are installed in the head at the same time as the inserts and the usual arbor is fitted in normal manner to the valve guide and carries on a rotating bushing three conical grinding wheels (not shown) having respectively included angles of 120, 60 and 88. This insures that the .098 dimension is maintained all around the seat, that is, the seat width issquite uniform although #the dimensions on each side, .047" and .020" may vary due to the impossibility of erecting the stationary arbor in the precise center of the passage in the head.

In Figure 3 the'basic idea is shownyiozbeing a block with a valve seat 5|, corresponding to valve seat [5 in the preferred formpwhich issurrounded by an annular groove 52=to permit the metal in area 53 to yield in the same manner as the ring H may yield. The groove 52 shofild be of the depth of the groove 2| in the preferred form or even deeper zandzwouldinecessarily have a bottom of appreciable wvidth as fiat 54. :Its radial width at the top :might :be twelve Jt-hou- 'sandths or .less andtheoutside diameter -of.the

:recessin this or in the zpreferrediiorm, is about 1% times thediameter-oftheipassagefie in the engine :block :or -50.

What I claimis: ,1. A valve seat uinsertwsuitable for use :inuan internal combustioneng-ine block. having a cylindrical recessforreceiving'it: comprising a tapered ringof metal having a hardness appreciablygreater"thanvthatofwthe metal of the block, snugly fitting said recess nearth'esbase of the .re-

cess and loosely "fitting the .recess at .the ".top 1 thereof, said ring havinga valve receiving 'seat "and having a diameter-at :the :seat endat least five thousan'dths of an inch less than the diameter at the-end engaging the base of the recess inthe engineblock.

2. The insert of-claim 13in which .thevangle of taper is-approximately 5%".

:3. The. insert of claim 11in which theouter diameter .of theringnear the rbaseaof the recess isibetweenfive and twelvethousandths of an inch ,greaterithanthesouter diameter of 1the.;ring nearest the surface of the block.

:said block havin'g an annularrecess coaxial with the valve seat, said recess being at least A" deep, less than one hundredth of an inch in radial width at its open end and tapering down to less ethanafive thousandths of an inch proximate its bottom, the greatest diameter of the recess being lessthanl times the diameter of the cylindriscal passage.

6. The block of claim 5 in which the greater diametercf the recess is approximately 1% times the diameter of the passage.

' 17. The combination with an engine blokfhavingiai'passagewaytherein to be-closed by a v-alve .and having an insert receiving recess coaxial with the passageway, of a valve seat insert 'firrnly :anhoredatthe base of the recess and loosely x fitting therecess at the valve seat end to form .withthe surface of the recess an annular gap of notiless than two -andone-half thousandths of an inch measured radially at the top, said gap narrowing down toward the solidly :anc'hored bottom end, said insert being'cf-a material hav- .ingahardness .greater than that or thebody of the block, and which will not lose its -temperat any normal operating temperature, whereby a distorted valve by reasonof the flexibility; of the --end of the inserthaving the valveseat, may seat snugly vto 'form-aseal-on the insert even though the -metal of the "block is itself distorted.

58;1he combination of claim 7 inwhich the .radial cross section of the valve seat makes .an :angle "of 46 with the outer surface of the enginefl'block, and said seat is relieved on both sidesthus'leaving a central conicalzone for en :gagement with the valvehead.

RICHARD H. SHEPPARD.

'Noi'eferences' cited. 

